You are my sunshine
by bluequeenofdiamonds
Summary: Leo falls in love with a new girl at camp, who is a daughter of Apollo. Lemon content in later chapters DISCLAIMER: I own none of the characters in this fanfiction... except for Melody of course.
1. Melody Grove

**Leo**

Ever since the war with Gaia ended, Leo was more on edge than ever. It was since that new kid arrived at camp… that Apollo girl, Melody Grove.

He'd always found it funny that a daughter of Apollo, the god of music, would be named "Melody". He made a joke about it to her once, and she reacted by kicking him in the stomach. It hurt, but not as much as the kick he got in response to calling her "Mel".

She really got on Leo's nerves sometimes, with her tendency to physically harm people out of nowhere. But at the same time, he couldn't stop thinking about her. When he tried to stay mad at her, the only thing that came to his mind was how beautiful that red-gold hair of hers was, or how those big sky-blue eyes sparkled when she was happy.

Leo tried to hate her, he really did. But he just couldn't, after what they'd been through together.

A few weeks after the quest on the Argo II ended, he'd gone on a quest with Melody and Nyssa, his half-sister. It wasn't really a big deal, just finding supplies to repair his ship, which was battered up from their last quest.

Once, they were searching for minerals in an old mining tunnel, and the entrance collapsed, leaving Leo and Melody alone in the dark.

With no way out, their only choice was to wait until Nyssa got help. It was the first time they had been alone together, and the first time they'd actually had a serious conversation together. Well, mostly serious.

It had started with Melody punching Leo in the face for letting them get trapped. Then she got scared, because the cave was pitch black, and started to cry. That left him with no choice but to summon some fire so they could see. She freaked out at first, obviously, since she was new to camp and didn't know about his power. He explained it to her, which then led to telling her about the story of the quest to stop Gaea.

As Leo told the story, he kept getting distracted by how beautiful her elfish features looked in the dim light. Her hair seemed to glow like fire. Whenever he paused unknowingly to stare, Melody urged him to go on.

Leo didn't tell her about his relationship with Hazel. He didn't know why – maybe it was because it was just too weird. Then again, a lot of things that happened on that quest were beyond weird...

Melody was a good listener. She didn't say a word through the entire story, nodding occasionally to show she was listening. By the time Leo finished, it had been an hour or so, maybe two; he couldn't tell with his ADHD. For a moment, they simply stared into each other's eyes in complete silence. Then Melody blushed and looked down at the floor. Leo also felt his face growing hot, and it wasn't from the fire (that wasn't even possible in the first place). It was quiet for what seemed like an eternity, and finally Leo couldn't stand it anymore. "No comments from you, huh?" He said, "No _Wow, that's such an amazing story, Leo_ or _Oh my gods, you're so cool, Leo-_" That had earned him a punch in the gut, but at least it broke the tension.

For the next several minutes after that, they simply made small talk, discussing the Argo II quest sometimes, but mostly joking around. Well, Leo did most of the joking around, and Melody usually kicked him when he did.

Nyssa came to the rescue right about when Melody was threatening to shoot Leo's ears off for almost calling her "Mel" again.

After that, they'd traveled for a week or so gathering more supplies. Leo and Melody talked a lot more after the stuck-in-a-cave-together incident, although 90 percent of the time, Melody was trying to kill him. Still, that was an improvement.

They didn't talk nearly as much when they came back to camp, but Leo found himself staring at her during lunch or campfires. Somewhere deep down, Leo knew he was attracted to Melody, and slowly, he was starting to stop being in denial. Unfortunately, the more he was aware of his feelings, the more difficult it was getting to control them.

Leo woke up in his underground room early in the morning. He yawned and blinked the sleep out of his eyes. He groaned when he realized it was Friday – the day of his least favorite sport in the world. Capture the Flag.

He had to admit, the idea was exciting at first. Two teams trying to steal each others' flags while using swords and other dangerous weapons, all in a forest packed with deadly monsters? It's awesome, until you actually tried to play it. Especially if you were a scrawny teenager like Leo. Since he usually spent all day at the forges, he had developed some muscles, but not much. The first time he'd played capture the flag, he'd gotten winded before he could even make it to his post, because the shield and sword weighed a gazillion times more than he did. Talk about embarrassing.

Leo had gotten better over his months of training at Camp Half-Blood, but he could still barely swing his sword and actually hit a target. He couldn't use his power over fire, either. If he hit anyone who was wearing armor, that person would likely overheat and die. He wondered if it was possible to make fireproof armor. He sat up in his bed and pondered that for a moment; that could work, actually. He'd go talk to some of the Hecate kids later today to find out more about that.

Leo changed and headed to breakfast in the pavilion and sat along with his cabin mates. "'Sup, guys," he said, trying to sound enthusiastic as usual. A few of them mumbled a greeting. Cheerful bunch, they were. If he didn't know better, he'd think it was rubbing off on him. But no, that wasn't the reason. Instinctively, his eyes drifted towards the Apollo table and fixated on a certain red-headed girl. Leo abruptly looked away, feeling ashamed of himself. Not having much of an appetite, he stood up to burn the rest of his food at the altar. His cabinmates were staring at him suspiciously, but he ignored them and left. It was a depressing morning; the same as it had been for weeks now.

"Guys, something's been up with Leo," Leo heard someone say as a dozen of his half-brothers and sisters entered the cabin. "You don't say," another said sarcastically. "It's been putting a damper on the mood of the whole cabin," said a voice he recognized as Nyssa's, "And after we finally got our spirits up after the whole curse thing ended, too." The group murmured with agreement. "I think it's been since you guys got back from that quest," Another one ventured, "You know, that one with you and Leo and that Apollo girl, Melody." The sound of that name sent a shiver up Leo's spine. "I think so too," Nyssa agreed, "although I don't recall anything out of the ordinary happening on that trip except…" She paused. "There was this one time when Leo and Melody were in a cave looking for minerals, and the cave entrance collapsed on them. They were in there for maybe three hours before I could get help." There was a long silence. Leo felt a surge of panic well up inside of him – Please don't make the connection, he prayed silently. "Guys," one of them said, "Do you think…?" No, no you don't think, Leo thought desperately. He heard a high-pitched laugh he recognized as Harley's. "Leo has a crush on Melo-"

"Hi, guys!" Leo said in an overly-cheerful way as he popped out of his hiding place. "Veerryy enthusiastic discussion you're having there!" Leo gave them one of his crazy grins that said _drop the topic or I will torch you_. All of them avoided eye contact and muttered some excuse to be elsewhere, and headed to their respective bunks. All of them, except one.

"Nyssa, don't tell me you actually believe this stuff," Leo said to his sister.

She shrugged. "What other explanation is there, Leo? You've been acting really distant, and I swear I see you staring towards the Apollo table at meals sometimes-"

He cleared his throat loudly. "What makes you think so? I'm the same old me as always. And I don't have a crush on anybody." She raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you blushing?"

"What?"

"When I mentioned the Apollo table, you started blushing."

"I did not!"

"Yes, you did."

Nyssa smirked. "I knew it. You do like Mel-"

"Don't say it," Leo warned. "Alright, I won't," she said.

"Good."

"Melody."

"Gah!"

Nyssa laughed. "Yeah, you're definitely blushing now. Well, I wish you luck at Capture the Flag, Leo. We're going against the Apollo cabin today, you know."

**Melody**

Bullet holes riddled the center of a target as Memory vented out her frustration with her prized golden pistol, Chrysos.

Stupid Leo. _bang._

Stupid quest. _bang._

Stupid feelings. _bang._

Since that quest she went on with that skinny Hephaestus kid, Leo Valdez, she'd been more confused than ever. That time they had gotten stuck in a cave, she'd actually _cried _in front of him. Then he'd tried to calm her down by telling that story. In truth, she hadn't been paying that much attention. The whole time, she'd been mesmerized by his gorgeous brown eyes, his cute dark curly hair...

Memory flushed at the memory.

_bang_, _bang_, _bang_.

She'd thought they had something together, but now he barely even talked to her! Yet, she couldn't stop thinking about him. His stupid jokes annoyed her, but that was part of what made Leo... _Leo_. And she loved every part of Leo Valdez. She couldn't deny it anymore.

_bang_, _bang_, _bang_.

Melody ran out of ammunition.

She sighed. Yesterday she'd come to the conclusion that Leo must have forgotten about her. Still, that didn't change the way she felt about him. She clenched her fists as tears started to form in her eyes. She ran to her cabin and lay down face-first on her bunk.

"Melody, what's wrong?"

Melody tensed. She'd thought everyone would be at archery practice by now. Apparently, she was wrong. She'd recognize that voice anywhere. "Will, leave me alone," she said, her voice muffled by her pillow. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Talking about it will make you feel better," He said, almost teasingly. She groaned. "I doubt it," she said. "Nothing to lose," He coaxed. "Except my pride," Melody said. "You're crying into a pillow in front of me," he said, "I wouldn't talk about pride." She groaned again. She hated it when he was right. She sat up grudgingly. "Promise not to tell anyone," She said. Will smiled. "Of course. I swear on the Styx, even." She nodded gratefully, and took a deep breath. Slowly, she said, "I have a crush on this guy."

Will nodded. "Okay. And?"

"I thought we had something, but now he barely talks to me."

"Then you should go talk to him."

"I've been trying, but I don't get a chance to often enough."

"Why?"

Melody paused, wondering how much she should tell him.

"Because we don't have any activities together, and he spends nearly all day working at the forges."

Will paused to take that in. Only children of Hephaestus were allowed in the forges. "Okay. What about during Capture the Flag?

"How would I have time to talk to him during Capture the Flag?" She asked.

"Well, what position is he?"

Melody grimaced. There was only one person in the Hephaestus cabin who played _that_ position. It was usually reserved for the new kids.

"Border patrol."

"...Oh."

An awkward silence ensued.

Will smiled. "In that case, I have an idea."

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next one coming soon. ^^


	2. I Never Forgot You

**Leo**

Leo yelped as another vine wrapped around his ankles, causing him to fall on his face. He cursed and struggled to get back up. Stupid Demeter kids. Bad enough that a thousand-ton sword and shield were weighing him down already.

His body ached from the strain of holding the weapons and being beat up by other campers. The grip of the plants loosened and he heard giggling from behind the trees.

This sort of thing happened every single time he played Capture the Flag. It was really starting to annoy him now. He got up and brushed himself off, glaring in their direction. He dropped his heavy sword and shield and pulled a few things out of his tool belt. His mind went on auto-pilot, as it often did when he was building something. He grinned evilly as he finished the device. It was a miniature helicopter – similar to the one he launched into the grand canyon the day he came to Camp Half-Blood.

After attatching a little "present" to his creation, he launched the copter towards the demeter kids. A few moments later, he heard a strangled gasp from behind the trees. That was his que. Leo covered his ears and ran.

_KABOOM._

He laughed as the forest exploded behind him and the smoking Demeter kids cursed at him in Ancient Greek. He'd left his sword and shield, but he didn't care. He decided it had been a good idea to sneak some greek fire into the game.

Leo heard running water – the creek, the border between the two halves of the forest. He couldn't help feeling good about himself – for the first time, he'd actually managed to get to his post without getting killed.

Wait…

That was really sad.

He wondered what he would do if he actually had to defend the border. The chances were slim, but after what happened with the Demeter kids, he didn't want to get ridiculed again.

No Greek fire left, so that wasn't an option. He pulled out a large hammer from his tool belt, but he knew it wouldn't do much good against other magic weapons.

Leo absentmindedly started tinkering with a few pieces of scrap metal, trying to think of a plan, when he heard a rustling noise in the bushes. He tensed and tightened his grip on his hammer. Nothing happened for the next few moments, and he wondered if he'd imagined the noise. Suddenly, a blur of red and gold sprang from the bushes and pinned him to the ground. He didn't even have time to scream.

He was going to fight back, until he recognized who was on top of him. "M-Mel?"

_bang, bang, bang._

"Whatdid you just call me?" The angry redhead said, her golden pistol smoking. Leo's ears rang. He tried not to think about the bullet holes in the ground next to his head. "Sorry, Jeez!" He protested, "What are you doing here?" Melody smirked, pleased with having caught him off-guard. "We're on opposite teams," she said, "I'm on my way to steal your flag, stupid."

Leo then realized just how long he hadn't seen Melody for. Well, sometimes he found himself looking at her from a distance, which _really_ annoyed him, but he hadn't actually talked to her face-to-face since their quest ended.

Now he could see that she had changed a quite bit – her firey red hair had grown longer, so her bangs slightly hid one of her bright blue eyes. It looked kind of cute that way…

_Stop that_, he scolded himself.

She had gotten taller and leaner. She wore a black vest over her orange Camp T-shirt and torn bleached jeans. She smiled smugly, but he could see the sadness and uncertainty hidden behind her mask of confidence.

Leo had vaguely noticed that last part before, but… was it his imagination, or was he sensing more of that insecurity now? There was also something else that she seemed to be hiding, but Leo couldn't pinpoint it.

Leo frowned. Why was he thinking about all these things, anyway? Melody had surely forgotten about him by now. Sure, they'd known each other pretty well, but… After running away from foster homes all his life, he'd developed a tendancy not to dwell on past friendships.

"The flag is over on the other side of the river," Leo said nonchalantly. Melody stood up and brushed some imaginary dust off of her clothes. "Your team is obviously losing, so I have some time to kill."

She studied his face as if trying to think of where to shoot him next.

Then, to Leo's surprise, Melody looked away and blushed.

"Why don't you talk to me anymore?" She blurted.

He wasn't sure he'd heard her right.

"Excuse me?"

Her face flushed pure red. "I… I mean… because when we were on that quest…" She stuttered, "We talked a lot and… I was starting to think of you as a… you know… friend… so…" Her voice caught on the last word, and she turned away, finding a very interesting spot to stare at on a nearby tree.

For once, Leo couldn't find anything to say. Honestly, he really had thought she'd forgotten about him a long time ago.

He had tried over and over again to try and put Melody in the past, like he'd done with all his other friends at the foster homes. _Keep moving_ was his motto. But for some reason, with her, it was different. He'd never been able to forget her.

And to know that Melody felt the same way, it made Leo feel genuinely happy.

He rose to his feet and cautiously laid a hand on Melody's shoulder. She flinched at his touch.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I shouldn't have shut you out like that. I'm used to moving on quickly, especially with friendships."

Melody lowered her head. "I remember. You told me. The foster homes. That's why, isn't it?" She hesitated for a moment. "So you did forget about me, then?"

Leo shook his head. "No. You were different. I don't know why, but I couldn't leave you in the past like I did with everyone else."

She blushed. "Oh."

He felt his face growing hot, too. He didn't quite mean for it to sound _that_ way…

Melody shifted uncomfortably. "A-Anyway, shouldn't you be trying to get the flag right now?" He said, trying to change the subject. Melody's eyes widened.

She muttered a curse in Ancient Greek and jumped towards the creek. Just as she was about to disappear from sight, she smiled slightly in Leo's direction. He returned the smile and waved. He thought he caught her blush again as she turned and disappeared into the trees.

At that moment, he'd completely forgotten that they were supposed to be enemies.

**Melody**

As she ran through the woods towards the banner, Melody had never felt happier in her life. She was vaguely aware that she was supposed to get the flag back to her base, but most of that was completely blotted out by complete ecstasy.

She still felt the lingering touch of Leo's fingers on her shoulder. They would start talking again now, Melody was sure of it. And then, maybe one day they could even become a couple…

Melody nearly had to hold back a squeal at that thought. She knew she must already be grinning like an idiot. She would have to thank Will properly when Capture the Flag was over.

Melody almost ran straight into the banner. The only reason why that didn't happen was because the person who was guarding it yelped and aimed a crossbow at her.

She was immediately jolted back to reality. She ducked and rolled, avoiding the arrow that would have otherwise given her a free navel piercing. She came up on one knee, aimed her gun, and pulled the trigger. The bullet intentionally grazed the side of the his helmet. The guard fell on his rear and tried to steady his vibrating helmet while Melody swiftly grabbed the banner and ran back in the direction she had come.

More enemies had caught up with her by then. She had to get through a dozen campers before she'd even made it halfway back to the border. Suddenly, a metalic glint caught her eye. _Trip wire, _she barely had time to think, before she jumped and avoided it by an inch. She landed, and two spears flew past where her head had been a second ago.

Melody cursed and began to run faster, now keeping an eye out for more traps. In the span of thirty seconds, she narrowly avoided five spears, two trip wires, and intercepted about a bajillion arrows with her gun as she continued to sprint towards the border.

She wondered if Leo would try to interfere. He'd let her go before, but maybe only because he was distracted by what had happened, too.

Melody hoped he wouldn't.

Leo was amazingly talented at building things, and he'd had more than enough time to whip up some amazing trap for her by now.

An arrow grazed her cheek while she was lost in thought, and she felt something warm trickling down her cheek.

She jumped over yet another trip wire, and almost landed on top of a Greek fire bomb. Were they even allowed to use those?

The river was in sight now. Melody frowned. She couldn't see Leo. She looked for a trap of some sort, but she couldn't see anything. A volley of flaming arrows flew towards her, and she intercepted all except one, of which more than lightly grazed her left shoulder. Searing pain erupted in her arm, but she literally bit the bullet and tried to ignore it. She was completely exhausted from her run, but she put in her final burst of energy and jumped straight over the river.

Melody expected something terrible to happen. She anticipated an explosion, a harpoon, another volley of arrows, a volley of exploding harpoons – _something_ to knock her out of the air and leave her at the mercy of the enemy.

But nothing happened.

She landed safely on her feet, back in friendly territory. She looked down at the banner in her hands. The red banner with a boar emblem shimmered and turned pure gold, with a lyre – her dad's symbol – in the center.

For a few moments, everything was silent. It had all happened so quickly, the facts took some time to register into her mind.

Then, her team burst into cheers.

Several dozen campers gathered around her and lifted her into the air. She stared at the now golden flag as they they carried her back to the camp. Then, pure euphoria filled her to the brim – she raised the flag and joined in the cheering. First Leo, now this. Melody couldn't believe her luck today. She laughed and waved her flag in the air rapidly. She probably looked like a little kid, but she didn't care. This was the best moment of her life.

After all the commotion ended and her adrenaline had faded away, Melody began to look for Leo.

She should have lost. She was sure of it. Leo was more than capable of rigging a trap that could have caught her.

Leo had let her win.

The thought drained all the remaining enthusiasm from Melody and replaced it with rage. How dare he? She despised it when an opponent went easy on her. Even as a possible token of friendship. She scanned the near-empty pavillion and found him standing near the campfire, having what appeared to be a serious conversation with someone.

Melody stormed up to him and prepared to launch an epic flying side-kick of vengeance.

"…You tell me what to do then, Piper. I can't keep denying it any more."

She froze. Piper? Was he talking to another girl? Slowly, she crept behind a nearby tree and listened to their conversation.

"Well, you've got to tell her how you feel," A voice said, "There's no other solution."

Melody's heart dropped into her stomach. Leo Valdez already liked someone. Her insides began to tie itself into knots.

"You're asking the impossible," he sighed, taking out random pieces of junk from his tool belt and fiddling with it the way she'd seen him do so many times.

"Leo Valdez, I've seen you build a giant warship, single-handedly kill three cyclopses, and save the world more than once. And you're telling me that asking out one girl is impossible?"

"This is different," Leo insisted. "I'm not good at dealing with people. Girls especially. I wouldn't know what to say."

"In that case, I'll help you," Piper said.

Leo frowned. "And how would you do that, exactly?" He asked slowly.

Piper laughed. "Who do you think you're talking to, Valdez?"

Melody had had enough. She had no desire to keep on listening to the conversation now.

Furiously wiping tears out of her eyes, she ran back to her cabin.

**I hope you enjoyed chapter 2! I'm a slow writer, sorry for the delay. :P**

**I tried to make the transition of P. more obvious, though i don't know if I succeeded...**

**There will be more OC characters and ships and LEMONS in later chapters :D**

**Thanks for reading, and Happy Halloween! :D**

**Please feel free to post reviews, I'm open to any criticism. I would like to know if there's anything I can improve.**


	3. Premonition

**Leo**

Leo nervously gnawed at his pencil, staring at the blank piece of paper that was soon to be a love letter. He felt like he was writing his own death warrant.

"Is this really necessary, Piper?" He whined.

Piper huffed impatiently. "Well, you refuse to grow a spine and tell her face-to-face," she said, "I'm afraid this is the _least_ humiliating way to confess your love to a girl."

Leo flinched. She was sounding more and more like a typical popular high-school girl every day. He wondered if those other Aphrodite kids were rubbing off on her.

"That's not what I mean," he said. "You've been looming over me watching me try to write this stupid thing for like, fifteen minutes now. Just because you're a daughter of Aphrodite doesn't mean you have the right to access everyone's love lives, you know."

Piper looked hurt, and Leo was sorry about that, but she had _really_ been starting to make him uncomfortable.

"Fine, then," she muttered, and left the cabin dejectedly. Leo sighed. He would have to go apologize to her later.

_But first, to deal with _this_ thing, _he thought.

How did you begin a love letter?

Sure, Leo had flirted with girls a lot, but he'd never gotten the guts to actually ask one out. He hadn't even held hands with a girl before.

Leo figured he'd start simple.

_Hi_, he wrote.

Genius, Leo Valdez. Pure genius. Maybe he _did_ need Piper's help with this, after all.

_No_, he thought. He had to handle this on his own. This was between him and Melody Grove, and no one else.

He gritted his teeth and began to write.

Leo was so concentrated, he didn't notice when someone walked into the cabin. Everyone was either at classes or at the forges, so Leo had been the only one there.

"Hey," Nyssa said casually.

"Oh my gods!" Leo yelped. "Don't scare me like that, Nyssa!"

Nyssa frowned at him. "I just said hey."

"…Never mind," he muttered, and continued on his project.

A few moments later, or at least it had _felt_ like a few moments to Leo since he was ADHD, he heard Nyssa's voice again – only this time, it was right behind him.

"So…."

"GAH!" Leo yelped. "Dammit, Nyssa, what-"

"Interesting _project _you're working on there." She said, smirking knowingly.

Leo felt his face burning. "Please go away," he begged.

Nyssa's smirk became wider. "Oh, I'll go away, alright." Leo's eyes widened. "If you tell anyone," he threatened, "I swear I will-"

She turned and ran out of the cabin, yelling, "GUYS! Leo's writing a lo-" "NYSSA!"

Nyssa laughed and kept running. Leo cursed and shoved the unfinished letter in his tool belt. In exchange, he pulled out a large hammer.

He chased after her in full sprint. He may have been the least athletic kid at Camp Half-Blood, but he could _not_ let Nyssa tell _anyone_ about this. Nyssa started to yell again, "Guys! Leo's-"

In desperation, Leo threw his hammer. To his surprise, it hit her in the back, and she fell face-down on the ground. He felt a twinge of guilt, but she hadn't left him with much choice.

That guilt evaporated when she popped up, unharmed, and dashed towards the forges once again.

Leo was really starting to get annoyed now. He pulled things out of his tool belt at random, hurling them at his sister. He didn't even care if she got hurt anymore. _No one_ would interfere with this. Naturally, Nyssa dodged every single one of them.

The forges were within twenty feet now. Leo felt panic slowly building up in his chest. He pulled some rope out of his tool belt, and tied a hasty lasso. He'd done something like this at the Wilderness School once, but he didn't know if it would help him now.

He threw the rope, and he had a weird, fleeting thought about how he once misheard Hephaestus for "festus", and had thought it sounded like the god of cowboys.

Amazingly, the lasso secured around her arm. Nyssa yelped in pain as the rope jerked her backwards.

Leo grinned victoriously as he pulled her towards him like reeling in a tuna. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said. "Were you going somewhere?"

She smiled innocently. "Oh, nowhere in particular. How about you?"

Leo realized he'd been smoking. Little plumes of flame were still dancing around him. "Uh-huh. We're going back now." Nyssa chuckled. "Oh, but brother dear, I do believe you dropped something."

Leo frowned, not sure of what she meant. Then, he remembered; _the letter_.

Leo reached into his tool belt, and waited. Nothing happened. He must have thrown it at her while he was chasing her before.

Without another word, he turned and stormed back to the cabin, dragging Nyssa along with him.

Leo searched the trail of melted tools and burnt grass that he'd left from his cabin to the forges. The letter had most likely burned up; that wasn't what Leo was worried about. He could just write it again. But what if it had survived? Gods forbid, what if someone found it?

"Ow," Nyssa complained. "That hurts, you idiot. Untie me."

"So you can run off and try to humiliate me again?" Leo snapped. "Yeah right."

For the first time, Leo saw something like fear in Nyssa's eyes. His anger subsided a little.

"I won't," She said, looking down. "Sorry, Leo. Didn't know you were that serious…." For a moment, the anger returned to him. Had she not noticed that he was _smoking_?

Then again, he knew Nyssa. There were times where she could be really calculating, but most of the time she acted purely on impulse. Especially when it came to pranks.

"Nah, it's cool," He said, "I may have over-reacted just a little bit, too." Nyssa smiled, and he felt the tension ease between them.

"Well, I would have probably done the same thing," she said. Then, apparently realizing what she'd just implied, she blushed heavily. "I didn't mean that I had anyone in mind, or anything. I mean, _hypothetically_ if I liked someone, you know?"

Leo grinned widely. "Uh-huh. Who is it, Nyssa?"

"No one!" Nyssa protested.

"Yeah," he said, "You keep telling yourself that." She huffed and stormed into her cabin. Leo let go of the rope, allowing her to go free. He had a feeling Nyssa wouldn't be bothering him anymore.

Leo decided he would start his project over. There was no way it would have survived the heat if he'd held it in his hand for even a brief moment while he was chasing Nyssa.

Just as he was about to enter the cabin himself, a horrible chill gripped him, almost knocking him off his feet.

He couldn't describe it; it was like when he was being posessed by the eidolons, except a thousand times worse. All rational thought vanished from his mind, leaving only a hungry, carnal beast.

He groaned and collapsed, as the feeling slowly encompassed his entire being.

**Melody**

Here she was again, crying into her pillow. Melody really hated how easily her emotions were swayed.

Unlike most demigods at Camp Half-Blood, Melody hadn't had a difficult life. Her mom was still alive. Her family wasn't poor. She'd never experienced a loss in her life.

Maybe it was unfair to those who hadn't had it easy like her, but Melody wished she had had _something_ go wrong at some point. It was like life had spoiled her. Yeah, that was it. She was nothing more than a pathetic, spoiled brat of a demigod… one who couldn't get a scrawny Hephaestus kid to love her back.

_Stop it_, she told herself. _Everyone gets broken hearts. What makes you so special?_

_But it hurts so much_, the spoiled brat within her complained.

Melody let out a muffled sigh into her pillow. "I am _so_ pathetic," she groaned.

"So is everyone at some point," her brother replied.

Melody flinched. "Leave me alone, Will," she said, "There's nothing you can help with this time." Will raised an eyebrow. "It looks like there is, to me."

She sighed. "Déjà vu," she muttered.

Will chuckled. "So, what seems to be the problem this time?"

"He doesn't like me back, Will," she said miserably, "there is really nothing you can do to help this time."

He raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"I heard him talking to a girl from the Aphrodite cabin," Melody said, "He was talking about another girl he had a crush on. He's planning on asking her out."

Will frowned. "Did he say who this girl was?" She shook her head. "Didn't stay long enough to find out."

For a moment, he was silent. Melody frowned. Had she actually stumped him this early? Then, he started chuckling. "What?" She demanded.

He started laughing even harder, clutching his stomach. Melody felt a tight knot of anger forming inside her, and tears began to form in her eyes. _No,_ she told herself firmly, I will _not _cry again.

Will calmed down after what seemed like an eternity to her. "Sorry," he said, though he didn't sound very sorry. "It's just… Melody, didn't you even for one moment consider that that girl might be you?"

Melody blinked. She really hadn't thought of that, but… "That's impossible," She decided.

"Why do you say that?" Will said.

"Because I'm so… and he's so… ugh." Melody buried her face in her pillow. "No one could like someone like me. That's why."

He sighed. "Your self-esteem is way too low, sis," he said. "You know, I could name at least ten people who have a crush on you off the top of my head."

Melody looked at him suspiciously. "Leo isn't one of them, though?" Will scratched his head. "I don't know for sure. There are some rumors floating around at the Hephaestus cabin, though…"

"Yeah, right," She grumbled, "You're just trying to cheer me up."

He shook his head. "Honestly, if I was, I would have exaggerated the number way more."

Melody was still not buying it. "Well, you failed nevertheless," she said. "I told you, there's nothing you can do for me this time, okay? Leo doesn't like me. It's not the end of the world. I can get over it."

Will didn't seem to be convinced of that any more than Melody believed that many guys had a crush on her. He was just about to say something, when they were interrupted by loud yelling outside.

Melody ususally wouldn't be bothered by this, since this level of commotion was pretty normal at Camp Half-Blood. But she had thought she'd heard Leo's name.

Apparently, Will had heard it too. "Shouldn't you go see what that's about?" He teased. Melody would have responded with some clever retort, but she couldn't speak. Her chest suddenly turned tight.

She had the unmistakable feeling that she was in danger. _But that's impossible_, she thought. _Camp Half-Blood is safe. Monsters can't get here._

But it wasn't any ordinary monster she was sensing. The presence that she felt was so dark, so powerful, so _ancient_, that it couldn't have even belonged to a god. Panic started to course through her veins. A wild, feral energy began to consume her mind.

Melody didn't notice that Will was calling her name and shaking her.

"Melody! Hey, what's wrong? Melody!" She blinked. "I… Did you just feel that?" She asked, her voice trembling.

Will frowned. "Feel what?" Melody collapsed onto her bed. Through the terror that was clouding her thoughts, she was certain of one thing. "Something's coming," Melody said, her voice barely a whisper. "A power so ancient that it was almost forgotten. It's back, and it wants blood."

Will put his hands on her shoulders. "Are you sure you're alright, Melody? You're not-"

"I'm fine!" She snapped, pushing Will away. "Look, I can't explain how I know this, but the camp is in danger! We have to alert Chiron now, or-"

The sound of a conch horn rolled across the valley. Melody blinked. Had she been stuck in her cabin for _that_ long?

"Come on, Melody," Will said. "You can tell him – whatever it is that just happened – at the campfire."


End file.
